Jack Miller will arrive in Australia confident a big result at his home grand prix is on the table after ending his mid-year form slump.
Miller left the Ducati stable at the end of last year to take up lodgings at the KTM factory team, which had finished second in the 2022 teams championship but off the back of only five podium finishes, the RC16 having proved an inconsistent performer.
The Townsville native took just four races to collect his first podium in orange overalls, finishing third in a statement ride to prove wrong his critics.
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But the rostrum has been elusive ever since, and by the mid-season break Miller’s results had tailed off. His usual qualifying speed had evaporated, leaving him stranded in the bottom 10 on the grid three times since the resumption, from where big points were inaccessible.
But a test day at the San Marino Grand Prix and a new carbon fibre chassis introduced at the Japanese Grand Prix appear to have cured the worst of his problems.
Sixth and seventh in Japan and Indonesia — and fourth and ninth in their respective sprint races — made for Miller’s best set of back-to-back results since the Italian and German grands prix in June, a marked upturn after a long drought.
It has Miller confident that he can enjoy a strong run to the end of the season.
“I’m happy enough with that and in general with our performance all weekend here in Indonesia,” he wrote on his website after the weekend’s race in Mandalika. “All weekend we were able to show some decent speed, so happy with the outcome.
“It’s nice to have two decent weekends in a row as well, both with Japan and [Indonesia]. I had strong pace at the end too, which is always a positive in these hot conditions.
“Not too far off the leaders, but we’ve got a little bit of work to do, definitely.”
Perennial rider favourite Phillip Island is the ideal place to conduct that work on his KTM, which should be ideally suited to the fast sweeps that define the renowned Victorian circuit.
“I’m really looking forward to heading to Phillip Island on this bike,” Miller continued.
“We’ve made some big steps forward with the new chassis and so on and with set-up in general and the way we come into the weekends, so I reckon the KTM can work really, really well around the Island.
“The bike is nice and agile at high speed, which you need there, and there’s always some decent grip there as well.
“Fingers crossed we can put on a good show for the home fans. I know I’ll feel that extra support.”
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A good result will do much to erase the bitter taste of last year’s disappointing return.
Miller had arrived at Phillip Island in career-best form, having dominated the Japanese Grand Prix and finished a close second in Thailand.
But his battle for his first Australian podium since 2019 ended after just eight laps, with Alex Márquez punting him out of the race — ironically at the newly renamed Miller Corner, turn 4.
“Obviously not the ending of the weekend that we wanted last year, getting cleaned out at my own corner, but we’ll try to put that behind us,” Miller expands to Fox Sports.
“It felt like last year we were in with a good shout of fighting for the win. It was unfortunate what happened, but for sure I think we’re in for another one this year.
“The last time I rode a KTM around there it was a pretty good day, so fingers crossed we can do the same.”
His previous visit to Australia in KTM colours was in his final Moto3 season in 2014. Starting eighth on the grid, Miller engaged the sort of chaotic multi-bike slipstream battle for honours typical of the lightweight class to hold off Alex Márquez and Álex Rins for victory.
This year the Miller family will return to their branded corner, and Jack and wife Ruby’s daughter, Pip, will join them for her formative grand prix experience.
Miller will then don the KTM overalls at the Island for the first time since his last home triumph nine years ago.
It sounds like history in the making.
“That’s going to be mega,” he says. “And the Island always produces something pretty special.”
It could be very special indeed.